Plants aren’t cutting it in the office in terms of improving air quality, new search data from Banner suggests.
Indoor air quality has remained one of the top priorities for employees, with 62 per cent of the global workforce citing they would leave their job if their employer failed to create a healthier indoor environment, according to Honeywell’s Health Building Survey 2022.
Similarly, interest in office plants boomed during lockdown. However, despite continued interest in the quality of office air, the new data shows a sharp drop-off in search volume for office plants. Searches for ‘indoor plants’ have similarly declined since the end of the lockdown, whilst searches for ‘air quality’ and ‘office air’ have been consistent throughout 2022.
Jason Thomas, Strategic Sales Manager at Banner said, “as employees transitioned back into the office after lockdown, it was no surprise that biophilia – a love of plants – emerged as a trend. Mental health was at an all-time low for most of us, and the natural integration of plants into the workspace not only improved air quality but proved to be a source of comfort for those anxious about coming back to the workplace.
“Plants obviously provide a host of benefits in any space, but their ability to improve air quality is often over-estimated, and now that offices are back to full capacity, they’re simply not doing the job. This might be why interest has dropped off.
“Air quality naturally remains a high priority post-pandemic, so facilities managers are looking at the best quality air purifying systems on the market, which is clear in the search data and backed up by our own sales data.”